Nortonville, Ky. – A Belton woman was killed during a three-vehicle collision that happened Wednesday afternoon in Hopkins County.
Kentucky State Police Post 2 responded at 1:40 p.m. Wednesday to a three-vehicle collision on the Western Kentucky Parkway at approximately the 42-mile marker.
A preliminary investigation revealed that Francesca Y. Applewhite, 45, of Clarksville, Tennessee was operating a 2016 Cadillac XTS traveling westbound on the Western Kentucky Parkway. Amanda B. Holman, 33, of Belton was operating a 2019 Toyota RAV4 traveling eastbound on the parkway. Derek C. Offutt, 42, of Madisonville was operating a 2021 Freightliner traveling eastbound on the Western Kentucky Parkway.
Trooper Kirby Broadbent was patrolling the Western Kentucky Parkway when he said he observed Applewhite’s car traveling 86 miles per hour westbound. As Trooper Broadbent was approaching the car to conduct a traffic stop, the Cadillac, for unknown reasons, crossed the median and began traveling westbound in the eastbound lane.
Applewhite’s Cadillac then struck Holman’s Toyota RAV4 head-on, causing it to collide with the Freightliner.
The Hopkins County Coroner pronounced Amanda Holman dead at the scene. Applewhite was injured from the accident and life-flighted to Skyline Medical Center in Nashville. Offutt was not injured from the collision.
KSP was assisted on scene by the Kentucky Highway Department, Hopkins County EMS, Muhlenberg County EMS, Hopkins County Coroner, and PHI Air Ambulance. The investigation is ongoing by Accident Reconstructionist Detective Brian Graves.